


Under New Management

by ladydragon76



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 23:24:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7911628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Summary:</b> Recruited to the Decepticon Cause after the Senate blew up his clinic while trying to capture him for empurata, Ratchet ended up Megatron's Chief Medical Officer.  He believed in the Cause himself, so when Megatron started to go off the rails, Ratchet made a Plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whiteaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteaster/gifts).



> **‘Verse:** IDW  
>  **Series:** None  
>  **Rating:** R  
>  **Characters:** Ratchet, Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Deadlock, Soundwave, Decepticon Ensemble  
>  **Warnings:** Violence, Character Death, AU  
>  **Notes:** WhiteAster pinged me with this commission idea, and I LOVED it! It had to be written!  <3

**The Dead End, Ratchet's Free Clinic**

Ratchet glanced toward the door when he heard the distinctive sounds of blaster fire. Not a completely uncommon occurrence down here in the Dead End, but it seemed closer than usual. Most mechs, even the truly violent ones, knew the value of a medic willing to do repairs for free and kept their violence well away from Ratchet's door.

"Should we be worried?" Ratchet's current patient whispered, orange optics a bit wide. He hadn't offered a name when he'd arrived, so Ratchet hadn't asked, only gestured to a table behind a folding room divider and started to work on the mech's damaged shoulder. There were clear booster injection marks on the mech's neck cables, and he shook despite the mild relaxant Ratchet had given him.

Ratchet opened his mouth to say no, but the next shots were fired from seemingly just outside his door. "Yes," Ratchet said instead and scooped the mech right off the med berth. "You're going to hide in my office and not come out until I come to get you and tell you boosters fry your brains, got it?"

"Wha-"

"If I say anything other than how boosters fry your brains, you _do not_ come out of hiding. Understand? "

The mech nodded shakily as Ratchet kicked his desk chair back and tucked him into the foot well under the desk.

Ratchet grabbed the chair by the seat. "What will I say?"

"Boosters fry brains," the mech whimpered.

"Good. Don't move. Don't make a sound." Ratchet stood and shoved the chair in as far as he could, then ran back out to the clinic.

Rapid-fire shots whined outside the door, _literally_ just outside now, and he made fast work of gathering up the tools he had been using, cramming the ones that would fit into his subspace while dumping the others on the back counter to be cleaned. He did his best to quickly make it look like he had finished and sent away his last patient, then, as nonchalantly as he could, he began cleaning the berth.

"Medic!" a mech shouted as he burst into the clinic.

Of course, thought Ratchet, though he froze when he looked up. "Drift?"

Drift had spotted Ratchet first and now strode right toward him. The guns were new. What the frag happened to the lost little addict Ratchet had treated so many months ago? How could the kid have gone and-

"Deadlock now," Drift- Deadlock replied. One gun was holstered as he rounded the side of the med berth to grip Ratchet's arm and pull.

Ratchet tried to jerk his arm free, but Dri- Deadlock tightened his hold and growled, that blaster still in his other hand. "Look, the gun's not necessary," Ratchet tried. "Whatever drugs or supplies you need, I'll help."

Deadlock blinked, scowl deepening for a moment before he snorted and gave Ratchet's arm another yank. "I'm here to fraggin' save you, not steal your stock. Now come on!"

Shock allowed the smaller mech to drag Ratchet toward the back of the building. "Save me?" he asked, frowning as Deadlock released him and crouched on the floor next to a loose floor panel. "What are you doing?"

"Help me with this," Deadlock ordered instead. He still had the blaster, so Ratchet decided on obeying for the time being.

The panel was lifted by the two of them and set aside only for Ratchet to boggle at the revealed black, empty space. "The frag?"

"In," Deadlock ordered, nudging Ratchet's shoulder. "Come on, or I _will_ stun you and toss you down the hole myself."

From the main area shouts rose, and for an instant Ratchet considered calling for help. Deadlock much have seen it in his face though, because he lifted the blaster in silent threat and pointed down the hole.

"Medic Ratchet!" a loud voice called, and he certainly didn't sound friendly.

Ratchet grit his teeth then slid, feet-first, into a hole in the floor of his own damn clinic he'd never known about. Deadlock came in right behind him, pulling the floor panel back into place over them. Ratchet was left with no choice but to scuttle out of the way or let Deadlock sit on his helm.

"What's-"

"Shh!" Deadlock's red-orange optics glowed, the only light in the darkness enclosing them.

Overhead the shouting was now muffled, as were the clangs and bangs- sounds which made fury bubble up under Ratchet's spark. They were wrecking his clinic!

"Move!" Deadlock hissed, shoving at Ratchet's shoulder. "Go! Fraggit! They're placing charges!"

Charges?! Blue light shone brighter, and instead of going the way Deadlock pushed, Ratchet tried to get back past him to the opening.

"The frag is wrong with you?" Deadlock shoved at Ratchet, blocking him and inching forward with a determination and strength that was, honestly, stunning. But Ratchet refused to be driven back.

"I have a patient up there!" Ratchet snapped, uncaring if his voice carried, though he'd never be heard over the sharp scream from above.

"Not anymore," Deadlock said, tone cold as ice and hard as diamonds. "Now fragging move. We need to get lower."

"Lower?"

"Primus! Just fragging _move_!"

Ratchet lost his balance and landed on his aft, but Deadlock didn't stop pushing. He growled, but rolled over to his hands and knees, the… tunnel too low to do anything but crawl through. "How did you know this was here? Who were those mechs? And for the record, I'm not entirely sure this isn't an abduction instead of a rescue."

Behind Ratchet, Deadlock snorted. "I've made it my business to know all possible escape routes from this clinic. I've been lookin' after you since you saved my life. Not everyone's happy about what ya do here, ya know."

Ratchet hadn't known, but he wasn't about to admit that. "Fine. Who were the mechs up there?" Then another thought occurred. "Did you face them alone?" He couldn't be sure, but there had been at least four different sets of feet tromping around the clinic.

"Had help outside, there were more. We took 'em down. They're Senate security," here Deadlock's voice took on a distinct sneer, " _disguised_ as gutter strong-arms. We had word they were comin', and they weren't hard ta spot. Didn't look like they belonged here. Idiots. Can't fake the stink of this world with a bit of grime smeared around."

Ratchet frowned but kept crawling forward until Deadlock caught his ankle and stopped him. "Why in the world would the Senate send their security forces down here for me? It'd be a million times easier to take me in a formal arrest from my own home if I'd done something wrong."

Those baleful optics stared at Ratchet through the black for a pulse, then Deadlock snorted again and metal grated against metal as he slid something aside. "You _didn't_ do anything wrong. Now go. I can't hear them moving around anymore."

Ratchet dangled his feet into a hole he couldn't see, spark tripping a bit.

"Jump. It's not far," Deadlock said, voice growing tenser. "Just let your legs collapse and roll. Now _go_!"

"Frelling…" Ratchet jumped, yelping a bit as his one foot landed first. He tried to just crumple and roll, but something still twanged painfully in his right knee, and the fear was really starting to sink in. Deadlock landed with a muffled thump, and then there was the sound of metal sliding again. "Why are they setting charges? Why the frag are they after me? This is insane! I haven't done anything wrong!"

Ratchet was dragged to his feet and pushed into motion. "They aren't gonna come knockin' on your front door all fancy-like cuz they _know_ you haven't done anything _illegal_. They're here ta snatch ya and take off your head."

Ratchet stumbled, biting out a curse as his knee twinged again. "Wait. Empurata? Are you talking about empurata?"

"Yeah. They're gonna make ya a freak, and if they couldn't catch ya here, they're ta blow the-"

A deep _THOOM_ sounded from above, shaking the ground enough to send both Ratchet and Deadlock sprawling. Bits of metal pinged off Ratchet's plating while rust and dust stung his vents as he inhaled, only to cough and gag as it all got caught in his throat and mouth.

"Hurry!" Deadlock said, both hands pulling at Ratchet. "Don't wanna be trapped in here."

"My clinic," Ratchet wheezed, though he let himself be tugged back to his feet.

"Is gone," Deadlock said, this time his voice was actually gentle as he gripped Ratchet by the upper arms. "You were doing a damn good thing down here, Ratchet. No one else cared about us. No one else would have bothered with a glitch like me. This _is_ a rescue, and I'm gonna take you somewhere safe where you can keep helpin' others and where the Senate can't get you."

That… didn't make much sense, because where on Cybertron would he be out of the Senate's reach? Ratchet's whole world still shifted under his feet though, so he moved as Deadlock tugged at him. It wouldn't hurt, just this once, to let someone else help him a bit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kaon, Decepticon Officers' Meeting**

Ratchet hated meetings. He had _always_ hated them, but now it was worse. Whatever rank privileges afforded him as Megatron's Chief Medical Officer weren't worth having to sit in on conversations he really had no part of. His time would be much better spent in the medbay working on basic maintenance for this ragtag army of gutter mechs, criminals, and low caste foundlings who had never seen the inside of a medical clinic or hospital in all their lives. Ratchet had come up the 'ranks' quickly, once Megatron had seen his work and work ethic- and maybe a bit of his anger too. The Senate had destroyed his clinic. The patient Ratchet had been tending was never heard from again, and he had _searched_. _Deadlock_ had searched.

A handful of months after joining the Decepticons, Ratchet had only barely escaped the mass arrest, Deadlock once again leading him into black tunnels and away from danger. At the time, Ratchet had been afraid, spark-broken as all the power behind the Decepticons was taken into custody. The news feeds were celebrating, then-

Then Starscream and Soundwave _decimated_ the Senate, followed by Megatron killing Sentinel Prime. Ratchet was left reeling, mind spinning over the sheer violence of it and just how happy all the other Decepticons were. Ratchet thought he should be happy too. This was vengeance for all the wrongs the Senate committed against Cybertron, but instead, he felt hollow. Oh, he was glad those who would abduct mechs to torture and mutilate simply for not conforming were dead, but it was relief not joy. And it felt wrong as well.

Listening to Megatron and Starscream rail felt wrong too.

"I won't stand by and watch this new Prime rebuild the Senate I destroyed!" Starscream shouted, his voice shrill with fury.

"Of course not!" Megatron snapped, standing and planting his fists on the table. "I will crush him as I did Sentinel!"

Ratchet wasn't sure why they were arguing with each other when they clearly agreed. He also didn't understand the hostility. A new Prime meant a new mech in power. One who might care. "Why don't we just ask to talk to him?" Ratchet asked into an instant's silence. All optics swung toward him, and he shrugged. "I'm serious. Maybe he's different? Maybe he's not, but we won't know if we attack without even trying for peace."

Starscream tipped his helm a bit, but Megatron scoffed, dropping back into his seat. Before he could continue, however, the door swooshed open, Soundwave entering, closely followed by a purple empurata victim. "Ah!" Megatron said and stood again, one hand gesturing to an empty seat. "I'm pleased you were able to join us, Shockwave."

Ratchet gaped, missing the next exchange as he stared at Shockwave. "I knew Senator Shockwave," he murmured, but he could have shouted it given the immediate reaction around the table.

Shockwave's helm tilted, yellow optic leveled at Ratchet. "Ah, yes, I do recall you. Ratchet, an extraordinary medic who snubbed the nobility to work in a free clinic in the Dead End."

For a only a moment Ratchet was too shocked to feel insulted, then he snapped, "Snubbed?"

"I am using the terms others did when speaking of you," Shockwave said evenly, one hand and one claw resting on the table in front of him. "I have a vague memory of finding your work with the destitute morally laudable."

Ratchet blinked, but it was Megatron to speak. "Unfortunately, we received word too late to save Shockwave from his fate."

Shockwave turned his helm, releasing Ratchet from his unsettling gaze. "Unfortunate, but I believe I can still be of use to your cause, Megatron."

"And we are pleased to have you," Megatron replied. "We were just discussing how to draw out the new Prime and eliminate the threat he represents."

Ratchet listened, but he felt disconnected from reality. Not only was he looking at what would have happened to him had Deadlock not come for him, but he had _known_ Shockwave. Not in passing. Not though reputation. He _knew_ the mech, and here sat this person, a seeming stranger, who did not appear to remember Ratchet at all- not in a personal way. Shockwave's tone never wavered, and while he had always had an easy temper, now he seemed… emotionless. Ratchet was chilled to his spark, and an insidious little thought wormed its way into his mind.

Was this _really_ the same mech as the Senator Shockwave Ratchet had known? He would need to find out. He wouldn't let an imposter harm the mechs he had come to care about -at least as much as one could within a violent revolution- nor ruin the chances the Cause had of effecting real change. Which was why Ratchet was still in favor of a peaceful solution, but the meeting was dismissed with Megatron ordering Starscream and Soundwave to come up with a plan of attack.

Ratchet stood, and tried to smile at Shockwave. "Would you like me to show you the lab and medbay? Actually, they're more or less one and the same right now."

"That would be acceptable," Shockwave replied. "Megatron gave me no specific orders, but I have plenty of research I would like to continue."

"This way then." Ratchet led the way down, still wondering about the mech, though he tried not to be rude and stare. He was caught out regardless of intent.

"It does take some time to get used to," Shockwave said.

"It does," Ratchet answered, because he was nothing if not blunt and empurata _was_ a horrifying mutilation. He could use that though, to keep his suspicions hidden. "It doesn't help to be faced with what would have been my own fate had they not been warned with enough time to reach me." Pits. That wasn't even a lie.

"Yes. You were in the Dead End, I believe, when attacked?"

"Yeah."

Shockwave nodded as they boarded a lift to go down a few levels. "It would have been much easier for Megatron to get to you than to me. I was in Iacon at the time."

Ratchet frowned. "Why? Did they tell you why they did this?"

"For the same reason as always I suspect." Shockwave followed along as Ratchet led him out of the lift and down a dim, rather rusted corridor. "I did not meet their standard and spoke too liberally of my own contrary beliefs."

"Do you still hold those beliefs?"

"I still believe in science," Shockwave offered. "In working toward a greater good."

That was a non-answer at best and told Ratchet not a damn thing. "They wanted me to learn to do it- empurata. I wasn't terribly polite in my response." That might had been part of what landed him on the list to receive the mutilation actually. "I want to give you a full eval," Ratchet said as he keyed open the medbay door.

"I am functioning at optimal levels, Ratchet," Shockwave replied as he stepped into the medbay and lab space.

"All the same," Ratchet said as he crossed the room and began to gather up what scanners and monitoring equipment he could. "You have been through a serious and traumatic surgery, and now that you're here, you're my patient. I want to be sure you're really alright, and it will also give me a baseline for what 'normal' is for you now."

"A logical point." Shockwave pushed himself up onto the med berth and asked, "Shall I lie supine? Or would sitting be better?"

"You're fine sitting for the moment," Ratchet answered and began connecting the scanners. "What, if anything, do you recall about the process? Is there anything I should be looking for?" He was going to map this mech's coding and frame, damnit. Maybe there was a way to reverse the empurata?

"I was unconscious for most of my time, I am afraid. There is very little I can tell you, however…" Shockwave reached into his subspace and removed a datapad to hand to Ratchet. "This is my pre-empurata medical file. I always kept a copy on-hand. Not all experiments in the lab go according to plan despite one's best efforts."

Ratchet took it and smiled a little as he turned it on. "I'll see what I can do." This also rather proved Shockwave was really Shockwave too. There were identity codes, but more importantly, his spark signature and that couldn't be faked. Not easily, not and still match so well with all the earlier scans and records.

"You need not do anything, Ratchet," Shockwave said, his voice still that unnaturally even, emotionless tone. "I am fine now. Perhaps even better than I was before. Emotions were in the way of pure scientific pursuits. Now I am not hindered by them."

Ratchet was suddenly very glad the Senate had been destroyed, though damn that he hadn't just _learned_ how to perform an empurata, if for no other reason than to be able to reverse it. It'd been shortsighted of him. "If you don't mind me looking into it though, perhaps other mechs who've undergone the procedure will want it reversed." And maybe you'll change your mind?

"I am ever unopposed to the pursuit of knowledge," Shockwave replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Kaon, Decepticon Medbay/Laboratory**

Ratchet looked up from the system's analysis he was checking over as Shockwave called his name.

"Preparations are complete," Shockwave said. His tone gave away nothing, but his yellow optic managed to convey _exactly_ what that meant from behind Overlord's shoulder where the soon-to-be super soldier couldn't see him.

Ratchet gave a nod and stepped forward to plug in a separate diagnostic.

"Are we ever going to get on with this?" Overlord asked, leaning forward as though to see the small screen in Ratchet's hand.

"Remain still please," Ratchet said. "I need these last baseline readings before we start the ununtrium process."

"How many readings can you possibly require? Shockwave just said I'm ready."

"I said my preparations were complete," Shockwave corrected as he stepped around and began to gather up the leads and wires now connected to Overlord. Ratchet had managed to dig out the program suppressing Shockwave's emotions, as well as make it so he had the use of two hands again. He wasn't the same as before the empurata, and he had declined having a new head built, but he was much more himself again. "Our mission is to have you survive this process. We have seen others who did not, and we- particularly Ratchet, know precisely what to look for."

"And you knew this would take time when you volunteered," Ratchet said, disconnecting the line. The kill switch was there as Shockwave had indicated, and now the Achilles virus was installed and activated. Overlord would never be able to strike a killing blow against Megatron. Or Ratchet and Shockwave for that matter. Ratchet wasn't stupid, and having only _one_ mech capable of bringing a force like the Warriors Elite down was the height of stupidity. "Impatience isn't going to get you through it any faster."

"Have a care, medic," Overlord crooned. "I'm already hard to kill, and you're such a small thing."

Ratchet looked up, met the red optics, and deliberately gave Overlord the most derisive snort of his rather extensive collection. "Yes, yes… die screaming after begging for it for eons. You know what would be real nifty? If you came up with new threats that actually intimidated anyone. That might be cool." One red finger pointed toward the large CR chamber behind Overlord. "Get your aft in there, and try not to stroke your own ego on the way. It might inflate and I'd have to start with new readings all over again."

Overlord smiled and obeyed, and really, that was more chilling than his threats. The mech was a maniac, and whether he could kill Ratchet or not now, he could make Ratchet wish for death. Not that Ratchet or Shockwave would allow it to come to that, but the mech was a monster. Sadly, neither Ratchet nor Shockwave had been able to talk Megatron out of his super soldier program.

While Shockwave handled connecting all the lines he had already attached to Overlord to the CR tank, Ratchet began checking over the equipment.

"I suppose it's sweet how careful the two of you are being for my sake," Overlord said, overly plush mouth pulled into the sort of expression one might make at a particularly dull-witted but cute turbopup. Ratchet wanted to punch him.

Luckily, Shockwave finished up and shut the CR chamber. The look he gave Ratchet spoke volumes of the scientist's annoyance. How he managed it with only a single optic and no face was beyond Ratchet, but Shockwave did, and it took an effort not to snicker. Overlord might be unable to hurt them without paying greatly for it, but they weren't dumb enough to antagonize him. Plus, it wouldn't do to be _too_ fearless around him. He might get suspicious. For all that Overlord was a sadistic maniac, he was also damn smart.

"The chamber reads as fully functioning," Shockwave reported.

"Beginning simulation run," Ratchet replied. From within the thick glass of the tube, Overlord's mouth moved, his optics rolling. Ratchet smirked, pleased to find Shockwave had left the microphone from the inside off. Overlord could hear them, but they wouldn't need to listen to him. Pleasing as his screams might be to some, Ratchet wasn't actually that sadistic himself.

"Simulation reports no anticipated issues outside acceptable parameters," Ratchet said a few minutes later when the chamber pinged back. He faced Shockwave. "We can begin."

Shockwave turned to Overlord. "This is your last chance to call this off. After we begin, we cannot stop. If your spark strains too far under the stress, you will die and there is nothing we will be able to do." Though all Overlord did was wave a dismissive hand, face turned away as Shockwave spoke. "We require you to give your consent for us to begin, Overlord."

Annoyance showed on Overlord's face, but he very clearly said, 'Yes, begin.' There were more words, but Ratchet knew better curses than that and turned away.

"Engaging ununtrium bonding process," Ratchet said then pressed the button with a bit more relish than a medic perhaps should. Of course he had never claimed not to be sadistic at all.

The chamber filled with the conductive fluid first, and Overlord gave Ratchet and Shockwave a cheery wiggle of his fingers.

"Ten," Shockwave intoned.

Ratchet nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, mentally counting down until the actual bonding of metal to plating and substructure began. Overlord could play jovial all he wanted. They _all_ screamed when it started. They all screamed until it was done.

Overlord's pain started with a twitch and a wince.

"Two," Shockwave said.

"One." Ratchet gave Overlord a wink, then the big mech's arms shot out to push against the insides of the tube. His helm was throw back, mouth gaping in a scream Ratchet and Shockwave -thankfully- couldn't hear.

"Spark stress elevated, but within limits."

Ratchet simply nodded. He was a medic, but he had seen too much cruelty in the world, and this mech was a cruel one. He wouldn't mourn if the procedure killed Overlord, and as Shockwave stated, there was nothing they could do to save him if his spark couldn't take the strain at this point.

Fortunately for Overlord -if not the rest of the universe- he survived. The chamber opened at the end of its cycle, once all the conductive fluid had drained away. It still clung to Overlord, and Ratchet held up a hand to keep the mech from stepping out.

"Not in my medbay. Stand still." While Shockwave reached in to disconnect the lines from the chamber, Ratchet dragged a chair over and stepped up on it before lifting a can of foam cleanser. "Arms out."

Overlord obeyed, hands once more pressed against the inner curve of the chamber. His vents ran hard, and he probably really wanted to sit down, but Ratchet was _not_ cleaning globs of the fluid -which was quickly solidifying to a gooey gel in the open air- from all over the medbay. He sprayed the foam all over Overlord, having the mech turn to get his back as well.

"Drainage open," Shockwave said and handed Ratchet a hose.

"Thanks. Turn me on, would you?"

"Now, now, doctor," Overlord purred.

"The cold water please, Shockwave," Ratchet added. Overlord just laughed, even as he was hosed off with rather chilly water.

"I see you have both managed success yet again," Megatron said as he pushed into the medbay only a minute later.

"Your timing is impeccable, my lord," Shockwave said with a slight bow. "We will be running the final checks on Overlord's systems in just a moment."

Ratchet turned off the hose, checking Overlord over to be sure he got all the gel and foam off. Had Megatron not arrived, he would have made the mech dry off before getting out, but their leader was already gesturing Overlord out of the tube after giving Shockwave's shoulder an amiable squeeze. Ratchet hopped off the chair and stowed the hose, leaving Shockwave to remove the cables and lines from Overlord.

Megatron beamed proudly up at Overlord, even helping him dry off a bit when Ratchet returned with a handful of cloths. "The Autobots will fall before you."

"I'll make a nice rug of the frames I crush under my feet for you," Overlord replied.

Ratchet forced down the urge to sneer in disgust as Megatron laughed, and set about cleaning up the CR chamber while Shockwave did the final system scan to be sure there was nothing wrong now that the process was complete. He didn't want to listen to the downright creepy promises Overlord made Megatron. The Autobots _should_ be afraid, Ratchet thought, then, Primus, what have we done? It wasn't like the others in the program were terribly stable, but Overlord was his own special breed of crazy.

The medbay felt different after Megatron and Overlord left it. For a time, Ratchet and Shockwave merely cleaned and organized their equipment and tools, then made their official reports and updated their records. It was then, sitting next to each other, comparing notes to see if either noticed something the other hadn't, that Shockwave finally spoke of what they had both been avoiding.

"I find it…" Shockwave began, voice only just barely over a whisper. "I find it quite troublesome that I hear so often how mechs need crushed, ground down, subjugated anymore. It is too familiar."

Ratchet heaved a sigh. "Yeah, what happened to 'rise up'?"

Shockwave nodded. "I have my reservations over what we have done. I fear-"

"Help!" Skywarp and Thundercracker clattered their way into the medbay, frantic energy whipping around them as they hauled a beaten, bleeding Starscream to the nearest med berth.

"Primus, frag it! Again?!" Ratchet demanded, launching out of his seat as Thundercracker lifted the Air Commander onto the berth. Skywarp was frantic and being more of a hindrance than a help.

"He was mouthing off again," Skywarp shouted back, too afraid for his trine leader to sound angry or disapproving, though Ratchet knew he was. Starscream had never been afraid of expressing himself, but Megatron had grown _much_ less tolerant of it since the new Prime took over.

Ratchet shooed the other two Seekers back as Shockwave hurried over with the bin of line clamps and a micro welder. Starscream groaned as Ratchet applied the first clamp. "Shockwave-"

"Injecting the anesthetic now," Shockwave said, his voice calm, putting action to the words as he settled the injector against the main line in Starscream's neck.

"Thank you," Starscream rasped, his body relaxing down against the berth as the pain receded.

"Primus, Starscream," Ratchet said as he continued to clamp the bleeding lines. It looked as though Megatron had punched through the armor, grabbed whatever he could, then ripped the handful away.

"Am I dying this time?" the Seeker asked, a wry grin twisting his mouth.

"No," Ratchet huffed. What happened to 'rise up', indeed, he thought as he finished with the clamps and moved on to carefully peeling back the bent edges of Starscream's plating around the gaping hole in his torso. "Want to tell me what it was this time that set him off?" Primus! Starscream was a brat, but he was genius brat. He was right more often than wrong, and he was a natural tactician to boot. He was only chafing now that Megatron refused to consider his opinions.

"Told him it was stupid t'have a weapon as psychotic as Overlord running around without chains," Starscream answered, static lacing his words.

"Not wrong there," Ratchet muttered.

"He'll be ok?" Thundercracker asked. "We're still due to leave for patrol, and I'd rather not have Megatron on my aft next."

"Yeah, get out," Ratchet answered without looking up. "I'll look after him until you get back."

"Rewire his processors too, while you have him," Skywarp snarked as Thundercracker tugged him toward the door. "Or just unplug his vocalizer."

Starscream lifted a shaking arm to gift his trinemate with a rude gesture, but then the other Seekers were gone and his hand dropped back to the berth. "He's out of his mind."

Shockwave shifted his weight, but what he was too circumspect to say, Ratchet was willing to risk. "Worse," he said, "I think he's lost our way. This isn't what I signed on for when I became a Decepticon. It feels like wholesale murder anymore, not a revolution to make a good change for all Cybertronians."

Starscream's optics were pale around the edges, but steady as he gazed up at Ratchet's face. "I didn't mind the wholesale murder part when it was the Senate."

"No one minded that," Ratchet replied.

A smirk. "Well, no one we lament losing."

Ratchet grinned a bit himself. "You're not often wrong, Starscream. Maybe a little grating to deal with, but not wrong. I could wish Megatron let you use your mind a bit more."

"Do you?" Starscream asked, tone shading toward suspicious. But what else could be expected from a mech whose own trinemates were constantly pulling against him? Ratchet saw it in Skywarp's frustration and anger, and Thundercracker's resignation and withdrawn nature. Before, the three had been inseparable. Now, more often than not, Starscream was on his own when not pushed toward his trinemates by a mission. Ratchet didn't know the particulars, but given Skywarp's vehement loyalty to Megatron personally, he could hazard a guess at the cause of the trine's rift. The question was, could it be repaired? Or would Starscream end up being stuck between choosing loyalty to the Cause or to his trine? If push came to shove- if Ratchet himself could make a change, would Starscream's trine follow him, or stand in opposition? And of course that was assuming Ratchet could tow Starscream along with him in the first place.

"Actually," Shockwave began and pulled over a stool, drawing Ratchet out of his rambling thoughts as he did so. "Since you are here for the time being, are you well enough for me to discuss a project I was considering? I believe one of your academy focuses was energon production and the speculation of new sources?"

Starscream rolled his helm to the side, that suspicion still there. "Yes…"

Shockwave sat on the stool and turned on a datapad. "Our energon quality is suffering. The Decepticons as a whole never produced much of our own, but as supplies dwindle with the continuation of the war, we have had to shorten what processing we do employ."

"Which is making it all taste like slag. Yes, I'm aware." Starscream lifted an arm, hand open for the datapad. "What have you got so far?"

Ratchet nodded his approval of including Starscream to Shockwave while the Seeker became absorbed in the datapad. Starscream _was_ brilliant, daring, and believed deeply in the Cause. Ratchet hated to think of it as grooming the mech, seducing him to support Ratchet, but was showing a mech _honest_ appreciation and agreeing with him that the abuse he suffered was wrong really 'grooming'? Or was it simple honesty? Starscream didn't deserve to be beaten. Snarky, smart aft glitch that he could be, he didn't deserve Megatron's wrath for questioning a legitimately _dangerous_ undertaking. Pits, punishment and fear of what would happen to them was what drove Ratchet and Shockwave to create the Warriors Elite.

Fear. Not belief in the Cause. Not faith in Megatron or the rightness of their actions.

Fear.

There was something wrong, and Ratchet was beginning to think he really did need to do something about it. Later, once they had released Starscream, he would speak to Shockwave about it. They couldn't do it alone- whatever 'it' ended up being. They would need support from within the Decepticons. More support than just Starscream if the Seeker could even be trusted to help them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Kaon, Decepticon Medbay, Post Battle of Hell's Point**

At first, Ratchet didn’t realize his chance had been handed to him, but a momentary lull in the noise of the medbay caused him to lift his helm from where he was working on Megatron. Not a single heavy-hitter came back from Hell's Point uninjured. Megatron had been crushed under a building, his transformation cog a ruin, leaving him trapped in his gun mode. Someone had managed to make Overlord bleed, and Shockwave was hurriedly clamping a multitude of torn lines. Sixshot was unconscious on a berth but stable. Black Shadow, Heretech, and Killmaster were in various states of 'damn fragged' considering their modifications. Starscream was in a corner, treating the comparatively minor wounds of his trine and a few other Seekers. Dozens of Decepticons filled the area, and Ratchet knew more waited in the hall outside. Everyone with any medical training at all was working if they weren't too wounded to do so.

It was a fragging mess. It never should have happened this way. Not the battle. Not the war. Not Ratchet's own fragging life. How had they gotten to _this_? The mech under his hands was not the same one who had sent Deadlock to save a medic in trouble. He was a tyrant hell-bent on pure destruction. They weren't raising anyone up anymore. They crushed, ruined, killed. There were no rescues. Decepticons weren't even supposed to help one another off the battlefield.

_If you are not strong enough to save yourself, you deserve to die._

When the frag had _that_ mentality taken root? No, Ratchet knew where that came from. Megatron's hatred of his Air Commander and Second in Command had only grown, and an injured Starscream could just lie there in his own energon and die as far as Megatron was concerned.

Ratchet looked back down at the mech helpless under his hands, and reached for a datapad. It was time to stop this madness and he wasn't likely to get such an open opportunity again any time soon. The cable was plugged in, and with the press of one finger on the keypad, Megatron was sent into stasis-lock without a word, rendering their leader effectively out of commission more than his wounds already had.

Yes. It was time. Ratchet unplugged from Megatron, tucked the datapad away for the moment, and grabbed a cloth to clean his hands as he crossed to Shockwave. "Overlord, lie down. We can't reach all the damage with you sitting."

"What about Megatron?" Overlord asked, a hot gleam in his optics as he stared at their leader. Oh yes, it was time for this to end.

"Stasis for now. Lie back, damnit." Ratchet pushed at Overlord's shoulder, and used the opportunity of reaching for a clamp to catch Shockwave's optic and send him a very particular ping sequence. The yellow optic flared a bit brighter, then the purple helm dipped ever so slightly in a nod. Ratchet clamped a lesser wound, then tapped a fingertip on Overlord's forearm. "Open."

"Why?"

"Fine, bleed out. Armor won't protect you from that." Ratchet moved to step back, but Overlord caught his wrist.

"You'd miss me, medic," Overlord purred as he released Ratchet and popped the medical access panel.

"Like an unreachable itch," Ratchet grumbled as he pulled a datapad from his subspace and plugged it in. "Now relax." He forced Overlord into stasis-lock as well, then unplugged before heading over to Sixshot.

"Why's Overlord out?" Black Shadow asked, drawing attention from a number of others.

"Stasis slows the energon," Ratchet replied, connecting the datapad to Sixshot and pushing his systems into a lock as well. "Means he bleeds much more slowly." Unplugging Sixshot, Ratchet turned to Black Shadow, gave him a cursory scan, noted the bleeding. "You too. Lie down. Too many wounded, and someone's going to bleed out before I can fix him."

"You sure about that, Doc?" Heretech asked, plating twitching, which made him wince. He looked like a building had been dropped on him too.

Ratchet paused in connecting the line to Black Shadow to give the other Elite a flat look. "Bleed out then. Your choice."

"I choose not," Black Shadow said, nudging his arm into Ratchet's hold.

Ratchet nodded and sent him into stasis before turning to Shockwave. "Three clamps please?"

Shockwave tossed them, one after the other, and Ratchet stopped the worst of Black Shadow's torn lines from killing him before he had the chance to do it. Once done there, he moved toward Killmaster, ignoring Heretech's sound of surprise. Killmaster snickered and laid down.

"Don't do nuthin' naughty ta me while I'm out," Killmaster said with a grin.

"Shut it," Ratchet said, and once Killmaster was down and out, he moved on.

"Aw, Ratch!"

Ratchet turned to Heretech, optics narrowed, and the mech quickly laid himself out on the med berth. "Fine. But not another word."

"Ratchet?" Starscream called out as he shooed his trine out the door. "I'm still capable of helping if I'm needed here?"

Ratchet smirked down at Heretech. "Nighty night." Turning toward Starscream, he took a moment to look over the medbay. "These mechs and Megatron will keep as they are. Shockwave can stop their bleeding. You do triage for me. I want anyone in real danger first at that berth." He pointed as he headed there.

The problem was that most of the mechs in 'real' danger were already dead. And it was still the middle of the next morning before the med bay was cleared, all patients sent off to refuel and recharge in their own berths to let self-repair systems finish what Ratchet and his cobbled together team couldn't.

Ratchet sank into a chair and accepted the cube of energon Shockwave offered him. "I'm slagged."

"You just might be," Starscream said, perching his aft on a stool, a cube already half-consumed held between both hands. "I want to know what's going on with them." He tipped his helm toward the six stasis-locked mechs on the far side of the medbay. "Slows bleeding, my aft. Not enough to be lifesaving."

"Worked though, didn't it?" Ratchet asked with a smirk. "The most dangerous mechs on Cybertron are no longer a threat."

"Until they wake up," Starscream pointed out.

Ratchet glanced at Shockwave, then cast his gaze over the Warriors Elite before facing Starscream head-on. "That's not going to happen. I'm going to siphon off their spark energy so their deaths are quiet and painless. Then I'm going to take command of the Decepticons and get us back on track."

Starscream blinked, mouth dropping open before he could completely stifle the shock. "Are you then? And why should I let you live and not take command myself?"

"Ratchet is better respected by the masses," Shockwave replied, blunt, but not incorrect in his assessment. "It is nearly criminal how Megatron has undermined your authority and respect with his treatment of you, but you will serve much better as Ratchet's Second in Command than as leader of the Decepticons in his stead."

For an instant, it looked like Starscream would argue, but he asked instead, "How long have you two been planning this?"

"Since Overlord's upgrade," Ratchet replied, then offered a shrug and drained his cube. "Well, not _this_ specifically, but to eventually make a move once presented with a solid chance. This was a Primus-given gift."

"What about Megatron?" Starscream asked, an odd light in his optics.

"I'll deal with him. I plan to keep him alive for now. Maybe stand trial once we have peace. Depends, I suppose, on how he handles learning I've usurped him when he wakes up." Ratchet dispersed the cube with a squeeze and stood. Shockwave finished siphoning his energon and rose as well. "Let's get these monsters draining, then I need just an hour's recharge if you can last that long?" he said to Shockwave.

"I can endure for two," Shockwave replied, somehow managing to convey a smile without a face.

"What should I do?" Starscream asked, standing to follow them. He ended up next to Overlord's berth. "I hate him. I hate them all, and I want to watch them die."

"I'm not taking pleasure in killing them, Starscream," Ratchet said, unable to help worrying about the Seeker. "This is necessity. There will never be peace or safety in this universe with these things walking around."

"Peace? You said that a moment ago too." Starscream looked up, blinking, and Ratchet pegged it as exhaustion. The Seeker had flown a hard mission, then stayed in the medbay to work and help all night, right there beside Ratchet and Shockwave. Even when others took breaks, or grabbed fast naps, Starscream had stayed.

"The Senate is gone. Megatron wasn't wrong- initially. It's just that he's let hatred and violence drag him away from his beliefs. I've watched that mech become everything I joined the Decepticons to stop. He's a tyrant now. Little better than Sentinel. Cybertronians won't survive as a people if we don't end this war. Soon. So yes, Starscream. Peace."

The Seeker nodded slowly. "I still want to watch them die. I need to see it."

That sounded less like bloodthirst and more like fear. Something Ratchet could accept for now. "Then come watch what I do, and you can hook up Overlord if you're comfortable with it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Kaon, City Center/Rally Stage**

Ratchet watched from a small monitoring pavilion off the side of the stage as hundreds of mechs jostled as they squished into the largest open area the Decepticons had access to. They were confused, but more than that, Soundwave was confused. He stood just out of arm's reach from Ratchet, visor angled toward where Shockwave watched a different feed on a datapad, but Ratchet knew it was himself being eyed.

"I think that's all who'll fit," Ratchet said. He gave Soundwave a grin, then strode out onto the stage. Shockwave alerted Starscream, not that Soundwave knew what for, but he would soon enough.

"Decepticons!" Ratchet shouted, arms raised. He hadn't bothered preparing a speech. He wasn't the sort. Megatron was the public speaker. The charismatic one. Ratchet was just a medic sick of war.

"Is Megatron dead? Is that why we're here?" someone dared to call out. It took Ratchet blaring his sirens to get the crowd to shut up after that.

"No. He is not, but he's no longer leader of the Decepticons." Ratchet winced as the crowd roared, voices ringing out in protest. Soundwave appeared to the side, but Ratchet ignored him for the moment. "You mechs in the front might want to step back a bit."

Seeker thrusters roared, growing loud enough to be heard despite the continued shouts. Ratchet crossed his arms over his chest and took a few healthy steps backward, leaving enough room for Starscream and his hand-picked Seeker team to deposit the five grey husks of the Warriors Elite. Starscream stayed, striding over to stand to Ratchet's right, but the other nine -including his trinemates- all took off, hovering to the side of the rally area.

Silence fell but for the heavy tread of Shockwave coming to stand at Ratchet's left.

"I've removed a threat which never should have existed," Ratchet began.

"Where is Megatron?!" Soundwave demanded, blaster raised and pointed right at Ratchet.

Ratchet tipped his helm, then deliberately looked back out over the gathered mechs. "Why did you join the Decepticons? Because you were poor? Starving? Because you saw the poor and starving and wanted to make Cybertron a better place? Because the Senate came after you? Took your face, took your hands, made you a pariah? Because inequality is injustice? Because Functionalism was murdering the _useless_?" He turned to look at Soundwave. "Because you were a slave- _property_?" Arms spread wide, Ratchet gestured to the dead frames in front of him as he stepped forward and looked back at the mechs standing there in mute shock. "Or did you become Decepticons to murder those we rose up to protect in the first place?" he asked in a sneer.

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and before they could get too loud, Ratchet continued. "We tore down the old Senate!" He swung his arm toward Starscream, then pointed at Soundwave too. "Your heroes of that accomplishment are still here. Megatron destroyed Sentinel, freeing us from his hatred and madness, but then Megatron lost his way. He is alive, but he is no longer going to drag us down this path to a new kind of madness."

From the corner of his optic, Ratchet saw two of Soundwave's creations launch, and a dark shadow slinked away. They wouldn't find Megatron no matter where they looked, and he had to fight the urge to smirk. Let them search into exhaustion.

"Megatron lost his way. He treated his Third like a drone, and his Second like an enemy when neither have ever been anything other than loyal to our Cause." Ratchet shook his helm and looked once again at Soundwave. "He has begun to treat many of us as little better than slaves ourselves. We were once trying to abolish all forms of slavery. Instead he spoke of crushing Autobots and enslaving them. Anyone who spoke up against that, to remind him of our original Cause was shut up _violently_."

"He's alive though?" Deadlock asked from near the front. "You didn't kill him? Isn't that a little risky?" His tone suggested it was _too_ risky.

Ratchet shook his helm. Megatron was alive and well, if still a gun and stuck in Ratchet's subspace pocket, but definitely alive and definitely not a threat to him for the time being. "These monsters," he said, gesturing toward the dead Elite. "They are the ones beyond redemption. I, with all of your help, am going to put our Cause back on track, then I will release Megatron from his prison to see the peace and prosperity and a truly unified Cybertron the likes of which he used to speak so grandly of."

"And what if we don’t wanna follow you?" asked Throttle.

Ratchet grinned a slow, dangerous smile as those he knew were supporters shifted and Deadlock's hand dropped to the butt of his blaster. Throttle cringed, his hands coming up just a little in a show of surrender. Ratchet lifted one hand just enough to indicate the grey shells before him. "Then you can join the ranks of the irredeemable and dead."

To the side, Soundwave lowered his blaster before tucking it away. Ratchet knew they would need to talk, and he wasn't at all sure Soundwave wasn't just waiting for a safer opportunity to kill him, but he was sure Soundwave could be reasoned with. Especially since Megatron _wasn't_ dead. It showed restraint on Ratchet's part, mercy that maybe Megatron didn't deserve, but it kept Soundwave from doing something stupid now and splitting the faction into yet another civil war.

~ | ~

**Iacon, Autobot Central Command**

"Prime!" Blaster shouted, startling everyone in the Command Center. "Got a comm coming in from the 'Cons."

Optimus stood and crossed to Blaster's terminal. Hell's Point had only been a few weeks before, and he had not expected to hear from the Decepticons yet. Of course, he had dropped a building on Megatron. That was likely to inspire some quick attempt at revenge.

It was therefore quite the surprise when the Chief Medical Officer of the Decepticons appeared on screen and not Megatron. "Prime," Ratchet greeted with a curt nod.

"Ratchet… What… can we do for you?" Optimus asked, hesitating over the words.

"I'm just calling to inform you that I've removed Megatron from command, disposed of his murder squad, and taken control of the Decepticons. If you're interested in entering into peace talks, maybe we can finish this slag and get on with life."

"You…" Optimus paused to replay Ratchet's words, but they didn't change. "Megatron is dead?"

"No, just safely out of the way until things get sorted," Ratchet replied, his smile positively wicked. "Now. Peace? Or should we keep shooting at each other until no one's left?"

Optimus stared for a moment, trying to decide if this was real or not, but the subtle pinch he gave his thigh hurt- so not a dream. "I would like nothing more than to reach an accord both our factions can live happily with."

"Good," Ratchet said, and his optics dropped to the console in front of him, a light _beep_ sounding. "I'm sending our core requirements now. I'll let you read them over, send me yours in the next few days or so, and we'll go from there."

"I… Yes, that will do." Optimus knew Ratchet was laughing at him by the smirk- at his surprise and inability to not stumble and stutter, but it didn't matter. They could all laugh at him every day, all day if he could have peace. "Thank you, Ratchet. I will be in touch soon."

Ratchet flicked a lazy salute that somehow managed not to feel too mocking then cut the communication.

"Peace, bossbot?" Jazz asked. "Want me ta go see if it's for real?"

"No, Jazz, but thank you." Optimus took the datapad with Ratchet's information on it from Blaster, smiling widely under his mask. "Let's take this on faith and see what happens."


End file.
